One of the most pressing business imperatives today is maximizing the value of a property, be it intellectual, brand-oriented or physical property. Maximizing income is often critical for profitability for a given investment.
Advertising has evolved rapidly with the advent of Internet and mobile devices. In previous generations, advertising was primarily associated with print media, radio, and television, whereas today's advertising executives are constantly looking for ways to reach potential customers via cellular phones, live events (sports, music, etc.), and incessant Internet browsing.
Traditionally, one of the primary ways in companies advertise outside of the digital space is on billboards. These billboards typically reside on the side of a highway or highly trafficked area. The upside to these billboards are that they expose the company's advertisement to many people; however, the quality of exposure is not ideal. A person driving his or her car pays more attention to the cars on the road, the call he or she is on, or the passengers in the car, rather than to the content of the advertisement. Additionally, the driver passes the billboard at a high rate of speed, which makes capturing and reflecting on the advertisement difficult. Finally, given the conditions, most people do not take a photo or somehow capture the data on the advertisement as they drive by, making the billboard advertisements less effective.
An alternative to highway billboard advertising that can reach today's on-the-go consumers is in ground-based environments, such as but not limited to sidewalks, roadways, driveways, patios, bike paths, parking lots, and the like. For example, without limitation, when one parks his or her vehicle in a parking lot, a properly placed advertisement may offer a potential customer a quick look at a nearby product or opportunity, thereby creating a slow intake of the information and an impulse to purchase said product or take advantage of said opportunity. Whereas buses and subways are packed with advertisements, private vehicles generally sport no such advertisements, and are generally difficult to reach. Parking lots offer ideal venues for placing advertisements that drivers will necessarily see as they enter and leave such structures. It is a purpose of the present invention, in some embodiments, to provide systems and methods for providing continuous, changeable advertising on the ground of parking lots and the like.
The present invention is a ground-based advertisement system and method. A plurality of back units may be adapted to be attached to predetermined positions within a parking lot having parking spaces. A plurality of clear covers may be adapted to be placed over each of the back units. The back units and the covers may define substantially sealed cavities adapted to hold one or more advertisements. The advertisements may be adapted to fit within the cavities. The advertisements may include a code, such as but not limited to a QR code, which upon being scanned may retrieve a coupon or further information for use at a nearby retailer. Alternatively, or in addition, the advertisements may include instructions to take a photo of the advertisement and bring it into a nearby retailer for a discount.
Further features and advantages of the devices and systems disclosed herein, as well as the structure and operation of various aspects of the present disclosure, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying figures.